BY OC METRO STAFFPublished: March 25, 2011 01:51 PM

The heath-care provider joins current and past honorees such as Marriott, Campbell Soup, Starbucks and Wells Fargo.

To garner the distinction, companies are evaluated on their ability to engage employees and connect with their work force on an emotional level as they work toward a common goal.

"Worldwide, there are more than two actively disengaged employees for every engaged employee, said James Harter, Gallup's chief scientist of workplace management and well-being. “The organizations honored work hard to shatter and reverse that trend, averaging nine engaged employees for every actively disengaged employee.Harter said engaged employees are more productive and customer-centric, and are “3.5 times more likely to be thriving in their overall lives, experience better days and have fewer unhealthy days.”In Orange County, MemorialCare Health System operates Saddleback Memorial Medical Centers in Laguna Hills and San Clemente, and Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley. Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach – both in Los Angeles County – are also part of the MemorialCare system.“Every one of our exceptional 10,000 employees, 2,350 affiliated physicians and countless volunteers contributed to this tremendous honor,” said Barry Arbuckle, president and CEO of the not-for-profit system. “Their continuing high level commitment to our MemorialCare mission is the reason we are able to offer Southland communities extraordinary, high-quality patient care.”